Plenty of great metal, hardcore, and other heavy NYC shows are getting announced all the time. We don't get a chance to write about all of them, so here's a roundup of some of the recently-announced stuff coming up:

Ohio metallic hardcore band Enabler and Brooklyn mathcore trio Meek Is Murder (who currently share drummer Frank Godla) are going on a tour this June which ends in Meek Is Murder's hometown on June 14 at the Acheron. Tickets aren't on sale yet, but should be soon via Ticketfly. All dates are listed below.

Enabler are planning to release their new album Fail to Feel Safe this year via Century Media (release date TBA), and Meek Is Murder's new LP, Onward/Into the Sun, comes out May 5 via Rising Pulse Records. You can hear the killer single "Onward Toward A Red Horizon" below (via VICE), and the whole album can be previewed at the listening party TONIGHT (4/24) at Over the Eight in Williamsburg for MetalSucks and Metal Injection's Heavy Metal Happy Hour.

Brooklyn sludge weirdos Unearthly Trance have been broken up since 2012 (though members continued on in Serpentine Path), but they're now ready to come out of hibernation to release a new album on Relapse Records and play shows again. So far they have two hometown shows announced. They open the Samothrace show at Saint Vitus on May 24 with Trenchgrinder and Beefrot (tickets); and also play Acheron on July 17 with Churchburn and Belus (ticket info TBA).

The genre-crossing Kayo Dot have a Brooklyn show happening May 21 at The Paper Box with Hex Inverter, Disparager and Kevin Hufnagel (tickets). Frontman Toby Driver also has his Stone residency coming up in August.

Ontario hardcore band Born Wrong have a new album and touring plans on the way, but most of that is still TBA. Meanwhile, they do have one show coming up, which happens in Brooklyn on May 9 at Acheron with local hardcore band Creeping Dose (whose new 7" Filth Is Power is out now) headlining, as well as Mommy, Pleasure Industry and Dilate. Tickets are on sale. We haven't heard anything from the new record yet, but if last year's angry, uncompromising Art District EP and the prior year's Holding Cell EP are anything to go by, we have high hopes. Stream those below.

Noisem, who will be in NYC in June on their tour with Iron Reagan, recently detailed their new album and released two songs. Blossoming Decay will be out June 6 via A389, and you can listen to the 2-minute hardcore rippers "1132" and "Graining Enamel," below. A third brand new track, "Replant and Repress," is streaming at Punk News.

KEN mode, who will play NYC in June with Fight Amp, Pyrrhon and Couch Slut, shared a second track from their upcoming Steve Albini-reocrded album, Success (due 6/16 via Season of Mist). Like the first single, "These Tight Jeans" is a workout in AmRep-style post-hardcore, and you can listen below (via NPR).

Last but definitely not least, Sweden's Tribulation released their death-metal-meets-classic-rock album The Children Of The Night this week on Century Media, and then put out the video for its opening track, "Strange Gateways Beckon." Watch that below.

The tour brings the two bands to NYC on June 25 at Saint Vitus. Tickets for that show go on sale at noon on Friday (3/27). All dates are listed below.

The tour is in support of new releases from both bands. Royal Thunder have a new LP called Crooked Doors coming April 7 via Relapse Records (artwork above). So far two songs from the record have come out, the crushing "The Line" and the more scaled-back "Ear On The Fool." Both are great and can be listened to below.

Meanwhile, Wild Throne signed to Roadrunner to release the full length followup their promising 2014 EP Blood Maker (released on Brutal Panda). It's called Harvest of Darkness and is due August 18 via Roadrunner. First single "War Is A Romance" is another punishing ripper from this band, which like their EP recalls The Mars Volta at their heaviest. Also like the EP, it was produced by Ross Robinson who worked with the Mars Volta guys themselves (in At the Drive-In though), so clearly he knows a thing or two about recording this type of stuff. Listen below.

Bad news, Monster Magnet folk: according to the band's publicist, frontman Dave Wyndorf has the flu, which means that the remaining shows of their tour with with Royal Thunder and Zodiac have been cancelled, including their 12/14 date at the Bowery Ballroom here in NYC. According to the venue's site, refunds are available. If you really feel like bumming yourself out, check out Invisible Oranges' enthusiastic writeup of the tour's Chicago date.

Behemoth frontman Nergal is kind of a badass -- he's an extremely gifted musician and a live-performance powerhouse who's played an important role in putting the potent Polish metal scene on the international map over the past 20 years. He's also a cancer survivor; after his 2010 leukemia diagnosis, he underwent chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant. Two years later, Behemoth were back on the road and plowing through high-energy live sets like nothing had happened. Again, badass.

Behemoth announced a 2014 release for The Satanist -- their tenth album, and their first in half a decade -- a few months ago. I admittedly haven't been too excited by their last few efforts, but after watching the NSFW video for leadoff single "Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel" (streaming below), my enthusiasm for the band has been rekindled. It's far moodier and more patient composition than the cluttered, robotic death/black metal that they've produced recently. They can still put the hammer down when they need to, though; the song's final minute is both the catchiest and most intense moment I've heard them produce since the mid-aughts. The video is pretty cool too, especially if you're into artsy black-and-white shots of evil rituals happening in slow motion.

In related news, Behemoth were also recently announced as part of the initial lineup for the 2014 edition of France's Hellfest, which will take place from June 20 through 22 (6/20-6/22). The lineup so far is huge and crazy: there's a "huge rock band" stage, featuring Iron Maiden, Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Soundgarden, among others; a big-name thrash/black metal stage that spotlights Slayer, Death Angel, Emperor, Iced Earth, Behemoth, and more; a death metal stage that will include Death To All, Carcass, Opeth, Nile, Gorguts, Hail of Bullets, and Weekend Nachos; a smaller black metal stage topped off by Watain, Gorgoroth and 1349; a sludge/stoner stage featuring Electric Wizard, Monster Magnet, Unida, Kylesa, Godflesh, and Clutch; and a punk stage topped by Walls of Jericho, Millencolin, and Turbonegro. Wow. You can reserve tickets now, if you feel like parsing the Google-Translated ticket page.

Check out the Behemoth video and the full set of Hellfest announcements below.

We announced a few months back that Monster Magnet will be releasing a new album, Last Patrol, on October 15 via Napalm Records. (Preorder it here.) The band will tour North America for the first time in ten years in support of the album, but when we last touched on it, no openers had been announced.

That's all been cleared up. Looks like Monster Magnet will rely on relentless road dogs Royal Thunder (who have played NYC morethanonce this year), with help from Zodiac, for support. The tour brings all three bands to NYC on December 14 at Bowery Ballroom. Tickets for that show are still available.

On top of that, Monster Magnet has debuted a second new jam, called "Mindless Ones", from their upcoming effort (via Crave). Stream both new MM songs and check out the full list of tour dates below.

As you may know, Bonnaroo is happening this weekend in Manchester, TN, kicking off today (6/13) and going through Sunday (6/16) across a dozen or so stages and tents. Everybody knows about the big names -- that include Paul McCartney, Bjork, Tom Petty and many more (stream it live) -- but there are some cool things going on away from the main stages, too

The Polyphonic Spree (who played a BVSXSW day party this year) play the Cinema Tent tonight (6/13) at 11 PM, performing The Rocky Horror Picture Show soundtrack in its entirety (!). Then the band are doing a second secret Bonnaroo set at 2 AM by the Fountain.

There's actually a lot of cool stuff going on in the Cinema Tent. Matt & Kim will host a panel discussion called "How to Make a Fun Music Video" where they'll also perform live (Thursday, 4:30 PM); Mike Birbiglia (who performs in the Bonnaroo Comedy Theatre) will present his terrific film Sleepwalk with Me (Friday, 5:45 PM); Reno 911/The State folks Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant will show their new comedy, Hell Baby (Friday, 11:55 PM); Police Academy human sound effects machine Michael Winslow will perform on Friday (9:10 PM); and The National's Matt Berninger will present the new documentary, Mistaken For Strangers (6/16, noon).

Chris Gethard, who famously walked to Bonnaroo from L.A. last year, will be doing a bunch of things there this year:

Last year I did The Chris Gethard Show which is an experimental, crazy thing, but this time it's just stand-up. I have a pretty in-depth exploration of my Bonnaroo experience last year that I may tell on stage and see how the crowd likes it. I would call my act stand-up but I'm less of a joke writer and more on the confessional, philosophizing or whatever end. They're true stories. I'm playing Thursday and Friday. Then Saturday I'm hosting a look at public access TV with clips from my show and other public access shows that inspired mine. Things like Uncle Floyd--which I grew up with in New Jersey--and Chic-a-Go-Go from Chicago. Also, clips from my favorite prank call footage on various public access shows. And a lot of it will be clips from The Chris Gethard Show that I'm really proud of. But overall I just want to have fun and meet a lot more people. - [Fuse]

There's good music away from the three main stages too: Deer Tick cohort Jonny Fritz (formerly Corndawg) will be tonight (New Music On Tap Lounge, 10 PM) and Friday (Sonic Stage, 12:45 PM); Ex Cops play the New Music On Tap Lounge on Friday at 8 PM; Canada's awesome White Lung play the Cafe Where? stage on Sunday at 7:45 PM; and Georgia rockers Royal Thunder play the New Music On Tap Lounge on Sunday at 8 PM. And look out for Mac DeMarco all over the place.

And last but not least, John Oates is the butt of a lot of good-natured ribbing, but you'll get to hear his side of the story when he performs and participates in a Q&A on the Solar Stage on Friday at 5 PM. Here's you chance to learn the real story behind "Maneater" without constant interjections by Daryl Hall.

Its great to hear that Baroness is officially back on the road, but with today's announcement we see how serious this tour will be. The band, which now features John Baizley, Pete Adams, Nick Jost and Sebastian Thomson, have added dates for most of the summer, including two legs of US dates, the last of which will include Irving Plaza on August 14 with Royal Thunder. Tickets go on sale Friday. May 17 at 10AM with a Citi Cardmember presale beginning Wednesday (5/15) at 10 AM.

Welcome back!

Look for Baroness at FYF, Bumbershoot and elsewhere too. All tour dates are listed, along with a behind-the-scenes video of the band at practice, below...

Converse Rubber Tracks Live returned on Saturday at Music Hall of Williamsburg (4/27), snagging strobe-loving math-core greats The Dillinger Escape Plan along with an assist from The Faceless, Royal Thunder and locals Primitive Weapons. The show was one stop on their current tour, which will roll through North American through most of next month.

The Dillinger Escape Plan are readying One of Us is the Killer for their new home Party Smasher/Sumerian. The band opened the MHoW set with the new track "Prancer" from the new LP. Head below for the rest of the setlist, as well as more photos from MHWW.

Progressive pop cult The Polyphonic Spree have a bunch of festival dates scheduled for this spring/summer and they'll also be touring around those fests, playing a number of club dates throughout the US. Those dates include NYC shows happening on July 9 at Music Hall of WIlliamsburg and July 10 at Bowery Ballroom. Tickets for those shows go on sale Friday (5/3) at noon with an AmEx presale starting Wednesday (5/1) at noon.

The Polyphonic Spree were also among the recent additions to this year's Bonnaroo lineup. Other additions include Solange, White Lung, Mac DeMarco, Black Prairie, Maps & Atlases, Royal Thunder, William Tyler, Cat Martino, On An On, Bilal and more. 4-Day passes for the festival are still available.

All Polyphonic Spree dates are listed, along with a full list of the Bonnaroo lineup additions and a video of the Polyphonic Spree covering Nirvana's "Lithium" at our BV-SXSW day party (one of our greatest moments at SXSW this year), below...

As discussed, The Dillinger Escape Plan is proclaiming One of Us is the Killer with a brand new LP, celebrating it with a set of new dates with The Faceless and Royal Thunder. Brooklyn's date at Music Hall of Williamsburg on April 27th will also feature a set by Converse Rubber Tracks recording artists Primitive Weapons and a DJ set by yours truly. The Brooklyn show is totally free/open to the public, but you need to RSVP aka grab a free ticket. They become available at noon on Wednesday (4/10),

DEP recently dropped a new tour promo, as well as a snippet from their forthcoming LP. Check them both out below along with all tour dates and a short documentary on Primitive Weapons and Saint Vitus...

After part of the docket was revealed last week, Scion Rock Fest have announced the entirety of their 2013 lineup which happens in Memphis Tennessee on June 1. Testament and Melvins claim the top slots, while additional bands announced for the fest are Municipal Waste, Whitechapel, The Obsessed (!), Corrosion of Conformity, The Casualties, Negative Approach, Pallbearer, Six Feet Under, Impaled, Vision of Disorder, Royal Thunder, Vektor, Arsis, A Life Once Lost, Touché Amoré, Code Orange Kids, The Gates of Slumber, Hot Lunch, Rotting Out, The Shrine, Ice Dragon, Call of the Void (who recently played NYC), Subrosa, Gigan, Anciients, Dirty Streets, Inter Arma, Complete Failure, Indian Handcrafts and Noisem.

SRF is free but RSVP (which opens on April 10) is required.

In related news, Inter Arma, who recently played the Invisible Oranges Day Party at The Jr (pictures HERE), have been announced, along with Sannhet, as support for the NYC date of the Intronaut tour, set for Saint Vitus on June 15. Tickets are on sale.

If you missed it, pictures from the official Invisible Oranges SXSW night showcase are available HERE, featuring shots of Pallbearer, John Baizley with Mel from Royal Thunder and Bruce Lamont, Mutilation Rites, Full of Hell, KEN Mode and Homewrecker.

SXSW gets underway today (3/13) in earnest, with 83,207 bands* playing SXSW this year. Trying to figure out who to see can be an overwhelming feeling. (Actually, just standing on 6th St. on Friday night is an overwhelming feeling.) Hopefully this post will give you some inspiration if you're among the throngs of people. Or maybe just some new stuff to listen to if you're not there.

Of course you could just hang out at all our day parties (our first starts at noon today!) and evening showcases, as we're really proud of our line-ups. But there are bands who we are pumped to see who aren't playing too. So here are 40 bands we're genuinely pumped to see in Austin this week. We made a Spotify playlist of all the bands (at least the ones on the service) you can stream below.

As you know, BrooklynVegan is returning to Austin for SXSW this year and throwing four days of day parties at The Main & The Jr aka 603 Red River Street at the corner of 6th aka the old Emo's location. Those happen Wed (3/13), Thurs, Fri and Saturday (3/16). All shows are 100% FREE with RSVP.

Invisible Oranges, in association with BrooklynVegan and my forthcoming Noisey video show Heavy Dicks, are proud to present the first annual Invisible Oranges day party during SXSW 2013! IO & HD take over the indoor stage at the old Emo's at 6th & Red River aka The Jr on March 15, as part of the four days of two-stage BV parties at the venue. The free show, running from noon until 6PM, will feature the following bands:

March 15, 2013 @ The Jr, Austin, TXToday is the DayPallbearer (also playing the official IO/BV showcase)KEN ModeRoyal ThunderInter ArmaBatillus
Baptists

The show is 100% FREE and we'll have FREE Invisible Oranges shirts for the first 50 people in the door thanks to American Apparel, who will also be on-site giving away other free stuff all day at the party. Complimentary drinks courtesy of Jameson while supplies last, free vegan tacos courtesy of Pink Avocado while supplies last, and free vegan nachos courtesy of Food For Lovers.

We also want to thank M for Montreal, mophie, Onkyo, Vox, Blackstar, Korg, Redigi, Zico, ASCAP, Mirrored Media, and Mail Chimp for assistance in making this a FREE event. RSVP for the show HERE. SXSW Badges are also welcome.

Today is the Day, Black Tusk and KEN Mode are currently on a North American tour, and will play Saint Vitus tonight (3/6) and 3/8 at The Studio at Webster Hall. The package tour also puts Fight Amp on both NYC dates.

"Heavy Dicks" is a new show premiering on Noisey in the coming months that is centered around metal. (Full disclosure: I'm one of the hosts.) Check out the trailer for the show alongside a new Today is the Day video for "Sick of Your Mouth," below....

As discussed, The Dillinger Escape Plan have set aside a show for NYC in late April in celebration of One of Us is the Killer, the band's new LP (art above). But now comes word that said tour has expanded by leaps and bounds, adding multiple dates and support from The Faceless and Royal Thunder. Look for Primitive Weapons to provide the assist for the Brooklyn show at Music Hall of Williamsburg on April 27, which will also feature between set DJing by yours truly (Fred Pessaro). This Converse Rubber Tracks Live show is FREE and open to the public with RSVP (forthcoming).

A list of all tour dates for DEP, The Faceless and Royal Thunder is below.

2012 was a year of considerable personal growth for me, as a person, a photographer and a music fan. As I recounted in my favorite photos of 2012, I got to shoot some of my favorite bands of all time and travel the globe in search of new ones. The beginning of the year was spent dealing with personal drama, and if it werent for key records in my life I shudder to think at where I would be right now. To every band on this list and many who aren't, I cant thank you enough.

First order of business, my musical pallette is much much larger than just a series of metal records. This is NOT a list of my favorite records of the year, because that would surely include other entries from across many different genres. This is, however, a list of some of my favorite heavier records.

To me, the term "heavy" can be defined in many ways, from the elongated riff on a doom record to a noise squall to a particularly punishing punk-rock beatdown. While most of the following records are "heavy" in the traditional "distortion and loud guitars" sense, a few are not. You'll see metal, you'll see deathrock, you'll see raw punk, you'll see hardcore, and many spots in between in the numbered list below. And to answer your question, yes you'll see Swans... right beside D-Clone and Asphyx.

My favorite records of 2012 are below. Hopefully you'll see a connection in favorites or maybe discover something new. Regardless, I hope you found your own favorites of the year whether in this list or outside of it.

Decibel Magazine has compiled their annual list of top 40 albums of the year. As usual, there are some surprises but the 2012 top ten is basically a list of nine veterans with only a single newcomer to the bunch. The full list of top records of the year according to Decibel Magazine is below, along with a tweet from the winning band. Buy your copy HERE.

Royal Thunder's ongoing tour with ASG and Corrosion of Conformity came to Brooklyn for a show at Saint Vitus on Saturday night (11/10). Watch Some video from that NYC appearance below along with the list of remaining dates.

Speaking of their dates, they now have even more. Look for Royal Thunder to support Monster Magnet at their upcoming string of Spine of God dates, including Music Hall of Williamsburg on December 14 with White Hills (tickets) and Starland Ballroom on December 15 (tickets).

Corrosion of Conformity are prepping to reissue their 1984 crossover-thrash debut, Eye for an Eye, via Candleight on November 6. Remastered, repackaged and including the EP Six Songs With Mike Singing, the title will see a limited-to-1000 release in North America. Stream that in full below.

Fueled by Sailor Jerry's spiced rum and PBR (both were free for a limited time), the BrooklynVegan - BBG CMJ showcase at Saint Vitus on 10/20 (a measly $5 door fee at the door if you didn't have a CMJ badge), sold-out the venue with an eclectic mix of bands that exemplified "heavy music" in many different ways: the searing post-rock/post-hardcore/black metal of Sannhet, brooding cello loops by Helen Money, crusty metallic-hardcore from Enabler, Am-Rep-y hardcore by Fight Amp, searing bluesy hard rock from Royal Thunder and experi-metal from Chicago's Yakuza (check out our recent interview with Bruce Lamont). It was all six bands' only CMJ show.

If you missed Royal Thunder (shame on you), you can still catch them on tour with COC.

Special thanks goes out to Saint Vitus, Sailor Jerry, PBR, Raw Rev and Mercy for help making the show a reality. More pictures and video from Saint Vitus, though unfortunately no pictures of the amazing Sannhet, below...

Chicago experi-metal-ists Yakuza are welcoming their new monster, Beyul, via the venerable Profound Lore Records next week (specifically, 10/16). The record is currently available for preorder and "The Last Day" from the record can be found at Pitchfork, but now you can stream the entire Beyul record in full below!